Beautifully sculpted by Spectrum Stone of Newmarket, the beasts form the most visible element of the current restoration project. Each of the carved stone beasts was carefully craned up into position by specialist teams.

Restoration work is carried out using traditional methods and materials. This project involved rebuilding the unstable parapet down to the bottom of the decorative frieze on the central west elevation and refurbishing the adjacent two turrets.

Henry Lytton Cobbold comments: ““What many people love about Knebworth House is its eccentricity, so it is especially rewarding to be restoring some of that alongside the more practical concerns of roof and structural decay. These beasts have been gone for as long as anyone living can remember, although in Victorian photographs they formed an important part of the House’s iconic skyline. I am thrilled they are back – but of course even more thrilled that the section of roof behind them and the section of wall below them are now stable!”

The current Phase 6 of the restoration work was financed by the Knebworth House Preservation and Education Trust Ltd with generous grant aid from Historic England and donations from Knebworth Estates and Lytton Enterprises Ltd.